Death & Company Interlude Two: Remember
by Ceiphied Knight
Summary: Darkwing and Gizmoduck find themselves caught between an egg and a wet place. When Liquidator shows up on Avian Way again , our heroes are truly tested on how far they'll go to protect those they love. Death & Company companion story.
1. Remember Everything

**Death & Company Interlude Two: Remember**

_"It all went by so fast_

_I still can't change the past_

_I always will remember everything_

_If we could start again_

_Would that have changed the end?_

_We remember everything_

_Everything…"_

_-_Remember Everything, _Five Finger Death Punch_

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: I make some references to "Twin Beaks" in this story, so…sorry about that? It's one of my favorite episodes and I always wanted to kind of pay homage to it. Also, this is a story in which I attempt to actually be funny. I apologize ahead of time for how un-funny I am.<em>

_I also REALLY like Liquidator, so therefore he finally gets some screen time and then I'm going to torture him. You know, like ya do._

_I always meant for these interludes to be one-chapter deals, but this one took off so I thought I would make it a two-parter and leave a little suspense. Or something._

* * *

><p>"The dashing doer of decent deeds descends down, decimating the devilish denizens of devious darkness with a daring design!" Darkwing Duck whispered to himself while creeping along a very precarious ledge on the outside of one of St. Canard's many skyscrapers.<p>

Gizmoduck rolled his eyes beneath his goggles and whispered back, "I don't understand why you always need to give yourself a pep talk."

Darkwing glared at his sometimes-friend and said, "And I don't understand why you need to come to St. Canard all the time and stick your beak into my business!"

"Well," Gizmoduck replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "if you'd rather take on Bushroot and Liquidator alone, then go right ahead. But I think we all know how that'll turn out."

Darkwing's glare deepened. Changing the subject, the masked mallard asked, "Why _are _you in town again, anyway? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Actually, I have something I'd much rather be doing, but I had to come to town on personal business anyway, so when I heard about this heist I knew I couldn't just sit by while two vile villains vanquished verily!"

"Leave the alliteration to me!" Darkwing snapped, then lowered his voice again and said, "There they are. Keep quiet and follow my lead. I want to try and find out why they'd be stealing spinach and vinegar before we take them out."

"Maybe they're making a salad," Gizmoduck said, absently.

Now it was Darkwing's turn to roll his eyes.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

* * *

><p>"This is going to be the best salad ever!" Dr. Reginald Bushroot, mutant plant duck and former highly respected botanist exclaimed to his watery friend.<p>

Liquidator easily hefted another large bottle of vinegar onto his shoulders and said, "Be the first to experience the most intelligent salad ever with Bushroot and THE LIQUIDATOR!"

Bushroot grinned. "I mean, I've met some pretty intelligent salads in my day, but at least these guys will do what we say. I understand that heads of spinach are much more passive than cabbages."

It was then that the two villains were interrupted by a cloud of blue smoke and a very familiar voice.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the letter X left on your Scrabble board! I am DARKWIIIIIIING DUCK!"

Bushroot and Liquidator both sighed. Liquidator sat the bottle of vinegar gently on the ground.

"Xenogeny," said Bushroot.

"Xenial," said Liquidator.

"Come again?" said Darkwing.

"Words that begin with the letter X," Bushroot explained. "Geez, Darkwing, pick up a book every once in a while."

"I READ LOTS OF BOOKS!" The crime fighter yelled, jumping up and down in indignation.

They were interrupted by a loud ringing sound. Darkwing, Bushroot and Liquidator all turned to stare at the cybernetic hero whose elbow seemed to be ringing.

"Pardon me," Gizmoduck said, sheepishly, "I have to get that. It's my private line."

He wheeled away quickly, so Darkwing snapped his head back around to the two villains who were already trying to use the distraction to escape.

"Hold it right there, you two!" Darkwing yelled, brandishing his gas gun. "I have a weed killer pellet and a cement pellet with your names on them!"

"Come on, Darkwing," Bushroot began, trying to appeal to the vigilante's softer side from the time they had worked together to foil unexpected alien cabbages bent on world domination. "I just want a new plant friend! You should understand that, right? I mean, you have Gizmoduck as a friend!"

Darkwing's eyes narrowed at that, but before he could launch into a tirade about how Gizmoduck was hardly his friend (at least, not that he'd ever admit to a couple of super villains), or how Liquidator was already Bushroot's friend…or…something, he was interrupted.

"Uh, Wingy, can we perhaps thwart them swiftly and then be on our way? I have someplace I have to be!" Gizmoduck said, wheeling back over and sounding suddenly rushed and slightly panicked.

"Giz, you know these things can take some time…"

And that's when they all heard the screaming. It was a hollow sound and seemed to be emanating from Gizmoduck's elbow. It was obviously a woman, and her words were impossible to make out, but she was apparently in a lot of pain.

And that's when Darkwing understood. Without thinking, he exclaimed, "Corrine!"

Gizmoduck whirled to face him with his beak hanging open. He was momentarily rendered speechless, then had a million questions for Darkwing about how he could have possibly known that. But then he decided to drop the subject, because they were in no position for a discussion of that nature.

"Yeah," he simply confirmed. "Corrine."

* * *

><p><strong>SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER, JUST ACROSS TOWN…<strong>

"And that's when I beat Tank at Whiffleboy Versus The World, with only seconds to spare!" Gosalyn Mallard recounted, throwing her arms around excitedly as she told Corrine and Launchpad of her hard-fought Whiffleboy battle against Honker's older brother in some tournament.

Corrine nodded politely. She liked Gosalyn very much, and in fact felt strangely protective of the girl, but she didn't have much interest in video games and couldn't even really say what a "Whiffleboy" was.

She was sitting on the couch in the Mallard's living room, with Launchpad next to her and Gosalyn and Honker on the floor with their backs up against the sofa, watching a gory movie that Gosalyn had picked out. Or at least trying to, but the teenager was so excited to have a visitor over (besides Fenton, who was nice but kind of boring) that she hadn't slowed down since the movie began. None of them had any idea of the plot, but Corrine didn't care too much about that. It was just nice to feel comfortable and accepted.

"Hey," Corrine finally spoke up when Gosalyn paused to take a breath, "Where's Drake? I know Fenton had some work he had to go do, but didn't Drake leave around the same time? That was hours ago!"

Suddenly, every friendly face in the room clammed up.

"I think he's just at the grocery store," Launchpad finally said. "That place can be a real madhouse!"

Corrine pursed her beak and half-glared at her friend for the lame answer, but decided to let it go.

"You know," Corrine said, changing the subject to one that she hoped wouldn't make everyone in the house uncomfortable, "I don't understand why you have those two chairs way over by that wall. You can hardly see the TV from over there. Why don't we surprise Drake by moving them closer, and then making an 'L' shape with the couch? You know, some redecorating! That way when you have people over, everyone has a place to sit!" The last was said with a pointed look at Gosalyn and Honker, who didn't look particularly comfortable.

At first, no one said anything, so Corrine stood and began to walk toward the chairs in question. The truth was, she just had the weirdest feeling about them. Like some secret she couldn't quite remember. Like being able to hum the tune of a song without knowing the lyrics.

Suddenly, as she took another step, three voices from behind her yelled out, "No!" and startled her so much that she stumbled forward and was only kept upright by reaching out with one hand and grabbing at a bronze statue that stood on a table between the aforementioned chairs.

"Oh!" Corrine said, her free hand instinctively flying to her belly.

And then she was overcome with pain shooting through her abdomen, and concern as the two blue armchairs began to spin quickly in front of her.

Time seemed to stand still for everyone else in the room. But, in that moment, several different things happened to Corrine.

First, she envisioned a dream-like image of the city skyline. The spinning chairs brought about the foggiest memory of being someplace very high up, with a beautiful view of the sky and the city, and being…happy. Content. But she could not grasp on to the memory. It was fleeting, vague, and then gone.

Next, she realized that the pain shooting through her body was not ebbing, and that her husband was god-knows-where fighting god-knows-who and that she might have no choice but to call him. But to do so could compromise his secret identity.

In the next moment, Launchpad was there, holding her up and guiding her away from the chairs, which had thankfully stopped spinning.

Corrine moaned in pain, not able to say much else. But the confusion in her eyes was apparent.

Then her much larger friend picked her up, effortlessly, and laid her down on the couch.

"Launchpad!" Corrine finally said through gritted teeth. "Please bring me the phone! I think the baby's coming!"

* * *

><p>Noticing that Darkwing and Gizmoduck were incredibly distracted by whatever the hell was happening, Liquidator decided to do the one thing that he and his comrades had been unable to do for years. He was going to take advantage of the heroes being off their game and kill them both, hopefully with time to spare to get back to the greenhouse before the spinach started to spoil.<p>

The watery villain grinned as he turned one hand into a giant mallet and began to bring it down on Darkwing's head. But just at that moment, another female scream came through whatever speaker was in Gizmoduck's suit, and Darkwing ran closer to his companion and out of the way of his sudden and painful demise.

"Drat!" yelled Bushroot, who had seen what Liquidator was about to do. He decided it was his turn, so he raised his leafy arms above his head and called upon some vines to grab the two heroes.

"What's going on?" Darkwing yelled, once the screaming on the Gizmosuit's telephone had cut off.

"My…," and that was when Gizmoduck realized he had no idea how to explain the situation to the vigilante without blowing his cover. But then he remembered how Darkwing had known Corrine's name, and decided that it didn't matter anymore, anyway. A feeling of trust in regards to the purple-clad mallard suddenly washed over him, so he decided to tell the truth.

"My wife seems to have just gone into labor. She's at a friend's house right now, so I really must be going…"

The cybernetic hero's words were cut off by a series of strong vines shooting from the ground and wrapping themselves around the tire of the Gizmosuit, and then winding their way up his entire body until no appendages were free.

"Hey!" he called out, and there was another scream from his elbow phone. Though this time it was luckily muffled by the vines because the profanities were followed by the words, "FENTON CRACKSHELL YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME…!" and then she was cut off again.

The villains had not been able to make out the words, but Darkwing had. He was using a spinning blade insert for his gas gun to keep Bushroot's vines at bay, while simultaneously trying to cut away the vines that had entangled Gizmoduck. But there was no end to them, and he was beginning to run out of steam.

"Giz, use your propeller to break free and fly out of here!" Darkwing snapped, irritated that his companion hadn't already thought of that course of action.

"I would be happy to, but then you'd be here completely outnumbered!" Gizmoduck snapped back.

Darkwing was touched, honestly, but it's not as if he hadn't been in tight spots before and come out none the worse for wear.

"Don't you think you have more important things to worry about?" Darkwing retorted.

Gizmoduck was quiet for a moment before saying, "It's okay, my friends are there with her and I trust them. Besides, I could never forgive myself if I left you here in a battle against two super villains and you…you know…didn't make it."

"Oooookay," was all Darkwing could say. He began hacking away at the vines again, with renewed fervor. He said nothing to Gizmoduck, but he noticed that the phone line had gone dead.

* * *

><p><strong>MEANWHILE, BACK ON AVIAN WAY…<strong>

"Corrine, we have to get you to a hospital!" Launchpad was repeating, frantically.

He, along with Gosalyn and Honker, had nearly had coronaries when Corrine asked for them to dial 555-GZMO to get in touch with Fenton. And then they could hear everything happening on the other end of the line, including Gizmoduck admitting that his wife was in labor, and Darkwing's responses. There was also a lot of yelling and the sounds of something that sounded eerily like a weedwhacker.

"I'm not going anywhere," Corrine yelled, between contractions, "until Fenton gets here!"

"Hey, Honk," Gosalyn said quietly to her friend, "How much do you know about delivering eggs?"

Honker's eye widened behind his thick glasses as he exclaimed, "N-Nothing!"

"Well," Gosalyn said, sounding deceptively calm, "maybe now would be a good time to start, you know, reading up on it."

With that, Honker ran next door to see if his mom still had any baby books from when she had been pregnant.

While they waited, Gosalyn approached the couch where Corrine lay fairly still, though breathing heavily. A contraction must have just passed. The younger duck knew that this probably wasn't the right time to pry, but at this point there seemed to be one very important question hanging in the air. Like the elephant in the room. Or more like the giant, mutant Tyrannosaurus in the room.

"Soooooo," Gosalyn drawled out, "Fenton is Gizmoduck, huh?"

Corrine looked slightly mortified as she answered, "Yep. I kinda hoped you guys wouldn't notice."

"Right," Gosalyn said, sarcastically, "because we've never heard that guy talk like a million times before."

"Yeah, smarty pants," Corrine said, wiping her brow with the back of her sleeve. "And I suppose normal people have spinning chairs in their living rooms? And I suppose I wouldn't recognize your dad's voice if I heard it, either?"

And there is was. Gosalyn frowned, but said nothing.

Launchpad ran to get a damp washcloth without even having to be asked. The memory of his mom giving birth to his little sister, Loopy, was burned into his brain, so he sort of knew what to do. Besides, he was starting to feel _really _uncomfortable with the topic of conversation,

"Look," Corrine continued, taking in the teenager's expression. "I think it's safe to say that we're all trustworthy. Nothing has changed, except that now we know. And to be honest, I sort of suspected, anyway."

Gosalyn's eyes widened at that remark. "What do you mean you suspected?"

"I don't know," Corrine said. She turned away from the girl and stared up at the ceiling, collecting her thoughts. Launchpad returned with the cool, damp cloth and Corrine gratefully accepted it.

Finally, Corrine spoke again, very quietly.

"It's like a dream. Sometimes I get these…visions. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I feel like I'm two different people. Or like I've been in two different places at once. Like your house, for example. I know where _everything _is in your house, and I've never been here before. You have a drawer in the kitchen, to the right of the stove, where you keep packets of taco sauce from the fast food place, right?"

Gosalyn's beak dropped open in shock. "Well, yeah, but…"

The teenager was interrupted by Corrine gasping and seizing up again as another contraction hit.

At that moment, Honker decided to run back into the house, carrying four books regarding pregnancy, delivery and parenting.

"Get to reading, Honk Man!" Launchpad shouted.

With flushed cheeks, Honker cracked open the first book and started doing what he did best. Problem-solving.

* * *

><p>"Get back here!" Bushroot shouted, frustrated that the two heroes seemed to want nothing more than to get away, rather than fight back. Normally, the mutant plant-duck would be thrilled at the prospect of being left alone to pull off one innocent little vegetable heist, but Liquidator had made the excellent point that, whatever was going on, they would probably never get another chance to face both heroes while they were so…off.<p>

"Look, Bushy, we'd love to stay and chat, and trust me when I tell you that I _will _be back for that spinach, but right now we have someplace else to be, so toodles!" With that, Darkwing snapped the last of Bushroot's obedient vines and freed Gizmoduck. Both heroes wasted no time heading away from the scene. Darkwing ran for his motorcycle, and Gizmoduck took off at top speed.

"Hmmmm," Liquidator muttered, watching the two vigilante's scramble. Bushroot moved as if to go after them, but the water dog put out a hand, stopping his partner in crime.

"Let them go," Liquidator said, "I look forward to seeing what's more important than us!" With that, Liquidator collapsed his body into a puddle and flowed down into the nearest drain. He knew the sound of Darkwing's bike well enough, and followed it under the city streets.

Bushroot was left holding all the spinach and vinegar.

"Awww," the plant creature bemoaned. "I'm gonna miss all the fun! Oh, well!" Then he clapped his hands together and two hulking trees stomped over to take Liquidator's place.

"Come on, boys," Bushroot ordered the trees as he heard sirens approaching in the distance, "pick up that vinegar and let's get out of here!"

* * *

><p>Even in his current state of panic, Fenton knew he couldn't show up at the house on Avian Way as Gizmoduck. So at the first possible opportunity, he slipped behind a garage and changed out of the suit. He had no idea where Darkwing had gone, but he had plenty of questions for that guy when he saw him again. He took off running toward the Mallard house as fast as he could.<p>

* * *

><p>Liquidator had lost track of Darkwing's bike somewhere around the Audubon Bay Bridge, so he took to following Gizmoduck, instead. Then the cybernetic duck's motor ceased to run, and the water dog was left feeling very frustrated.<p>

He removed himself from the sewers (he hated sewer travel, anyway) and took in his location.

"Ew, the suburbs," the former salesman said to no one in particular.

The street was called Avian Way, which Liquidator felt was very cliche. Still, it was where Gizmoduck's trail ended. The watery villain began strolling down the street, looking for anything suspicious.

"Odd," he said, "This place actually seems strangely familiar…"

Then he heard the screaming.

One of his ears perked up, and he followed the sound to a quaint and very familiar house with a red roof and a boring front yard.

Sloshing up to a living room window, the villain took in the scene unfolding.

* * *

><p>"Don't push!" Fenton yelled at his wife. "Stop pushing!"<p>

"I can't really help it, Fenton!" Corrine yelled back, her eyes wide and a bit crazed.

Launchpad hefted Corrine up by one arm, while Fenton got her other. Their grand plan was to get her to the station wagon and then to the hospital ASAP.

Unfortunately, even the best laid plans can have their unexpected surprises.

"Parenthood already got you down? No matter, when you can just surrender and be destroyed by THE LIQUIDATOR!"

In the doorway of 537 Avian Way, having recognized the voice of the woman from Gizmoduck's phone, stood a very smug watery canine.

Corrine, being physically held up by Fenton and Launchpad as everyone in the room gaped at the villain, said the one thing that everyone else was thinking.

"You have GOT to be shitting me!"

* * *

><p>Drake hurriedly changed out of his Darkwing costume and debated on how to get home. He could take the chairs, but Fenton would surely be at the house by now, and Corrine was still in the dark about the whole secret identity thing.<p>

Then again, he had already slipped up (very much unlike him, of course) and given Fenton plenty to think about with the whole "knowing who Corrine is" thing.

With a sigh, Drake decided that since he knew Fenton's secret, it was only fair to be honest about it. Besides, the sooner he was able to get home, the better.

He hopped into one of the chairs and pressed the identical statue that appeared in his living room at home.

Upon arrival, however, he was faced with another problem. A huge, blue-ish, watery problem.

Oh, and a screaming pregnant lady. So make that two huge problems.

"What's this now?" Liquidator remarked as another mallard appeared in the house on Avian Way, via a spinning armchair.

Drake tensed, his eyes narrowed at the villain.

Fenton looked quizzically at his friend, but Drake could tell that he was adding it all up.

Gosalyn also had her muscled tensed, standing between the villain and Honker. She looked ready at attack at any moment, while Honker poured over some books.

There was really no denying it. They were all a little bit screwed.

Corrine let out another scream and nearly collapsed, so Fenton and Launchpad gently sat her on the bottom step of the staircase right in front of the door.

"Guys, I really hate to be a bother, but I think I'm about to give birth here," Corrine said, her teeth clenched and voice strained.

"Not my problem," said Liquidator, focusing instead on Drake.

The two stared at each other for several moments, then Liquidator actually broke the silence with one simple word.

"You," he said.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Leave My Body

**REMEMBER: PART TWO**

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: Wow, this really took on a life of its own. I didn't mean for it to become so long, but that's the funny thing about writing! Something about fools, little children and ships named Enterprise…Wait, no, that's something else entirely. Anyway, here's the conclusion to the journey that will get us kind of back to where we were, but this time everything might just be okay for everyone. OR WILL IT? DUN DUN DUN!<em>

* * *

><p><em>"I'm gonna be released from behind these lies <em>

_I don't care whether I live or die _

_And I'm losing blind, I'm gonna leave my bones _

_And I don't want you to leave me cold _

_I don't want your future _

_I don't need your past _

_One bright moment _

_Is all I ask…"_

**- Leave My Body, **_Florence + The Machine_

* * *

><p><em><strong>ONE YEAR AGO...<strong>_

Corrine was happy.

After all, why wouldn't she be? She had moved back in with her parents, into her beloved old room in her childhood home. She and Fenton were together again, and it felt as if they'd never parted. She was training as a commercial pilot for a local airline that covered the entirety of Calisota…honestly, things had never been better!

And yet…

Something bothered her, almost on a daily basis. Nameless, faceless images would pop unbidden into her mind, causing her breath to catch and her heart to beat faster.

Sometimes, when she went to visit Fenton up in McDuck's office inside the money bin (the old coot seemed to tolerate her, which was nice) she would gaze out of one of the top floor windows and stare absently in the direction of St. Canard. Something about the bridge bothered her, but she couldn't quite figure out what. Other than the fact that she had once been kidnapped and tied to it, anyway. She stared longingly at the glowing towers which sat like silent chess pieces above the massive bridge's suspension cables and bit her lip, trying to remember.

But nothing ever came into focus. Eventually, she just gave up.

She was having one of her staring contests with the bridge on the day that Fenton wrapped his arms around her from behind and mumbled into her ear, "Hey, you okay?"

She turned to face him, smiling. She had never shared her strange feelings and reactions with him, and she couldn't quite figure out why. She finally decided that it was because she didn't want him to think she was crazy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. Fenton did not release his hold on her. Something in his expression made her pause.

"Are YOU okay?" Corrine finally asked.

Fenton nodded, but she could tell he wanted to say something.

"Spill it," Corrine ordered him.

With a sigh, Fenton said, "You've seemed really distant lately, and I think I know why. So I wanted to ask you something."

Corrine stiffened a bit in his arms.

Woman's Intuition is a funny thing. The second the words were out of her boyfriend's mouth, Corrine was not surprised when he dropped down to one knee, right there in Scrooge McDuck's office, and brandished a small rose pink box. He popped it open to reveal a very modest pink sapphire in the shape of a heart, set in a band of white gold.

"Corrine," the accountant said, his voice wavering only slightly, "Will you marry me?"

_Anger. Lust. Frustration._

_A fight. A kiss._

_A fall._

Corrine gasped, her hands flying to her beak. She took a step back.

What the hell was her problem? What was she thinking? Was she losing her damn mind?

Fenton was looking up at her expectantly. Nervously.

Corrine slowed her suddenly ragged breathing and truly focused on her boyfriend. He was honest and kind. He didn't have an uncontrollable ego…

_Where had __**that **__come from?_

Fenton had put up with all her lunacy before she had run off to St. Canard, and then had been by her side constantly since her return.

Her parents adored him, which was nice.

But, most importantly, she loved him with all her heart.

Hell, she always had. She always would. Ever since a stifling hot night in a jungle, when Corrine had seen the hero hidden within the sweet accountant.

He wasn't always rational, and sometimes he drove her crazy, but he was hers.

So there it was.

"Yes," she answered, almost in a whisper.

Fenton's smile could have lit up all of Duckburg. He stood and removed the ring from its little cushion, then gently took Corrine's left hand and placed it on her ring finger.

At that moment, the office door opened and Scrooge McDuck stood there with his nephews and Webby, and they all applauded. Webby jumped up and down, excitedly.

After that, everything was a whirlwind.

Corrine had moved out of her parents' home once again, and Fenton had moved out of his mother's home for the first time in his life. Poor Mrs. Crackshell hadn't taken the news terribly well, but Corrine had calmed her by promising tons of visits and the use of Gizmoduck to come clean her trailer once a week. Fenton hadn't even bothered objecting.

Corrine suddenly had a new take on life. The weird dreams and visions were beginning to fade. She and Fenton had spent the first week at their new apartment in bed, entangled and hardly able to be apart for more than the time it took to eat a meal or take a shower. They would be back to work soon enough, and had a wedding to start planning.

Then Corrine had found out she was pregnant. After the initial shock had worn off, she and Fenton had decided to move their wedding date up, exponentially.

The weird dreams ceased, entirely.

But then, at the wedding, a man she barely knew had danced with her and she had felt that old sense of confusion…trying to remember something that simply wasn't there.

The dreams had come back that night, and she cursed Drake Mallard without really knowing why.

* * *

><p><em><strong>PRESENT DAY…<strong>_

Drake Mallard stared down the Liquidator and knew that he knew the truth.

Within seconds he had surveyed the situation. Not enough time to run upstairs and grab a spare gas gun, and Corrine was blocking the stairs, anyway.

He had to lure Liquidator out of the house if he was going to save anyone.

Fenton had been crouched down with his wife, but he stood and faced the super villain, as well.

For Drake, everything seemed to go in slow motion. Fenton opened his beak to speak, most likely to call out for the Gizmosuit, but before he could so much as croak out a syllable, Liquidator slashed out at the mallard with a watery appendage, slamming the accountant into a nearby wall. Fenton crumbled to the ground and did not move.

Corrine's beak dropped open, and she seemed to momentarily forget about anything except her unconscious husband.

"FENTON!" She cried out, rising awkwardly and stumbling over to his prone form where she fell onto her knees beside him.

Only a few seconds had passed. Liquidator was looking at Drake again. Launchpad stood but lingered by the staircase. Honker had finally looked up from his book, his eyes filled with terror as Gosalyn continued to block him from their assailant.

Drake hissed a string of swear words under his breath. Liquidator was obviously waiting for SOMEONE to make another move. There was no way he could even get to his hidden computer equipment in the living room wall without endangering everyone else in the room. Then again, a mini super computer wouldn't do him a hell of a lot of good at the moment, anyway, except perhaps to call for help.

Suddenly, Corrine stood and addressed the super villain, "Mister…uh…Liquidator. Seeing as I'm the least likely person in this room to be able to do anything useful, and you've just given my husband a concussion, could you at least possibly let me go upstairs to use the bathroom? You know, egg coming and all."

Liquidator actually smirked at the woman and said, "Fine. But don't try anything funny, or I'll give your husband more than a concussion, free of charge."

Corrine simply nodded and slowly began making her way upstairs. Launchpad made a move to help her, but she held up a hand to stop him.

After she knew she was out of sight of everyone in the living room, Corrine made her way to the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

Because, for some reason, she knew everything about 537 Avian Way.

She entered the bedroom and made her way over to a wardrobe by the window. Opening it, she found exactly what she knew she'd find. Several spare Darkwing Duck costumes, and a spare gas gun.

Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed one of the costumes by a sleeve. The scent emanating from the wardrobe was driving her crazy, more so than anything else ever had before. She remembered something she had once read, _"When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered· the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls· bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory."_

But if that were true, why was she still completely unable to remember a damn thing, other than ghosts and shadows?

Corrine shook her head, as if physically shaking away anything other than the task at hand.

She dropped the sleeve of the jacket she had still been holding and focused on the gas gun. Even it was familiar to her as she popped out the gas cartridge to see what it was.

Just a smoke cartridge. But it would have to be enough to distract Liquidator. Drake would have to know what to do.

Corrine wobbled back to the top of the stairs and looked down. No one had moved, including her husband. Her heart beat even faster when she realized that she would need to get him to a hospital with even more haste than her own situation. She hadn't had a contraction for about ten minutes, but he could have suffered serious head trauma.

Liquidator was not looking at her, so she steeled herself and yelled out a phrase that somehow seemed perfectly natural.

"SUCK GAS, EVIL DOER!"

Liquidator's head whipped around as she pulled the trigger on the gas gun. The cartridge exploded out, and blue smoke soon enveloped the villain, making it impossible to see him. Which meant that, momentarily, he probably couldn't see them, either.

Then something else happened that Corrine definitely wasn't expecting.

"BLATHERING BLATHERSKITE!"

She heard the code words, and she heard the suit charge up (she would recognize that sound anywhere), but it was not Fenton who had said it.

"Drake…? But…how…?" Corrine mumbled to herself, thinking that she was possibly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But then she closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. "Keep it together, Crackshell," she whispered to herself.

She had done all she could.

* * *

><p>As Drake felt the unfamiliar and rather claustrophobic sensation of the Gizmosuit adhering to his body, he blessed Corrine for giving him the seconds he needed to implement the only plan he could think of.<p>

The suit was in place, and the smoke had almost cleared to reveal a very annoyed Liquidator. The villain was waving around a watery hand, trying to clear the last of the smoke.

He turned and saw Gizmoduck in the place of where the mallard he had thought was Darkwing Duck had been.

In a moment of confusion, the villain looked down at the still unconscious duck on the ground. He had been sure that _he _was Gizmoduck and that the other guy…

Well, it didn't really matter who was who. He would just have to kill them all.

But first, he glared up the stairs at the pregnant female who had shot the gas gun.

"Clever little thing," he quipped, then lifted an arm and exploded a wave of water at Corrine. She was unable to dodge, and the force of the water knocked her all the way back into Drake's bedroom. She hit the farthest wall, and slumped to the ground.

"CORRINE!" Drake found himself yelling, while wheeling toward Liquidator. He had already been livid at the thought of a villain in his own home, threatening his friends and loved ones. But now he was enraged.

Liquidator turned toward the metal-clad duck and smirked.

And then Drake realized that there was only _one_ thing he knew about using the Gizmosuit. Something that Fenton had told him, offhand, during the other timeline. In a quiet moment after Corrine had died saving everyone from the Fearsome Five, he had said something about how he should have taken the suit back from Megavolt and pressed all the buttons. It was something that could have gotten him killed, had he done it and destroyed the ship, himself. He had felt guilty.

With single-minded determination, Drake launched himself at full speed toward Liquidator. The water dog was caught off guard as Gizmoduck (as far as he knew, anyway) plowed into him.

And then Drake pressed all the buttons.

The explosion was epic and blinding.

Gosalyn screamed, "DAD!" and waved her arms wildly through the grey smoke that had taken over the entire living room. But instead of her father, she found Honker's hand and he held tightly onto her.

Launchpad had been knocked off his feet, so he was crawling along in the darkness, trying to find Gosalyn and Honker. He knew that DW would want him to get them to safety.

Almost as suddenly as the attack had occurred, the smoke began to clear. Once they could see a bit better, they saw Fenton Crackshell with the front door and all the windows thrown open, airing out the house.

"Fenton, you're okay!" Launchpad said.

Fenton nodded. "I was just pretending to be unconscious there at the end. I thought that I could use the element of surprise to get the Gizmosuit, but…I can't figure out how Drakerooni knew the code words, or knew to push all the buttons!"

"Where IS dad?" Gosalyn chimed in, sounding slightly panicked.

"And where's Corrine?" Fenton asked.

Launchpad and Honker exchanged a look.

And then a very battered and wobbly Gizmoduck with a flat tire came out of the kitchen, holding a mason jar full of water. Except the water had a face with a very angry scowl.

"Hey, Giz," Drake said, sounding very loopy, "how do you get this stupid contraption off?"

With a grin, Fenton walked over and pressed a single red button that had not been destroyed. The suit fell from Drake's body with a thud.

"Looks like I'll be needing a new one. Again." Fenton commented, looking down at his damaged suit.

Then they were all distracted by a scream from upstairs.

"Corrine!" Fenton yelled, taking off up the stairs like a man possessed.

He found her slumped on the floor in Drake's room, clutching her belly. Some blood had pooled underneath her, and her eyes were shut tightly as she screamed again.

"Call an ambulance!" Fenton yelled downstairs. "NOW!"

* * *

><p>In the few minutes before the paramedics arrived to get Corrine, they had hidden the damaged Gizmosuit, and Drake had excused himself to head back to the Tower with his jar full of super villain.<p>

Once alone in Darkwing Tower, Drake headed over to his safe.

"Sorry, Licky," he said to the mason jar. "You know too much. I can't even send you to SHUSH, all things considered. I don't like doing this, but you've left me no choice."

With that, he threw some extra chains and a combination lock around the jar, then opened his highly advanced safe and placed Liquidator inside.

"Hey!" He heard a muffled and very startled garble from inside the jar, "You can't leave me in here like this!"

Drake's eyes narrowed. "You invaded my home, threatened my family and friends, attacked a pregnant woman with no qualms whatsoever, and you expect me to care what you think?"

If Liquidator could have shuddered inside the jar, he would have done so. The absolute decisiveness in the mallard's voice in that moment made him sound an awful lot like Negaduck, and it disturbed the water dog.

Then, without another word, Drake slammed the door of the safe closed. Liquidator was left in pitch black darkness and silence.

* * *

><p>When Drake arrived at the hospital, he found a very sweaty but healthy Corrine, and a very flustered Fenton.<p>

Launchpad, Gosalyn and Honker were all smiles as they looked at a large egg that sat on a pink blanket in an incubator next to Corrine's bed.

"You missed it, DW!" Launchpad said, excitedly. "After the egg came out, the doctor ran this wand thing over it to find out if it's a boy or a girl…"

"It's a girl!" Gosalyn interrupted.

"She should hatch in only two more weeks, since she was a little late coming out," Fenton added, sounding rather befuddled.

"Congratulations," Drake said, sincerely. A small part of him was sad as he remembered the other timeline, and how it could have been him standing there next to a glowing Corrine…but none of that was as important as her safety. Besides, it had been a little over a year, and the memories of that time were already beginning to fade. Usually, it seemed like it had all happened in some sort of vivid dream. He'd actually had several sessions with Morgana to discuss memory suppression, but it had been the sorceress who suggested that perhaps it would do him some good to remember the sacrifices he had made. Although he didn't feel like he'd done all that much, Morgana assured him that, for once, he wasn't giving himself enough credit.

One night she had said something that had really struck a chord with him.

"You know, I'm a little bit jealous of how good Corrine was for you," Morgana had said.

Darkwing was incredulous. "What do you mean? I did everything wrong, endangered her life, basically got her killed…"

Morgana had placed a gentle finger on his beak to shush him.

"That's the way you see it," she explained. "But the way I see it, you learned some humility. Listen to yourself, actually admitting that you made mistakes! That's not the Dark I knew. You've changed for the better, so things can only get better from here on out."

Then she had leaned forward and given him a gentle kiss on the top of his beak as she shooed him out of her house.

Coming back to the present, Drake smiled at the scene before him. Fenton fussing over Corrine, and the kids fussing over the egg as Launchpad laughed.

Drake walked up to the bed and addressed the happy couple. "So, have you guys picked out a name?"

"Corrine has," Fenton said. "She was very adamant about it."

"Is it a secret or something?" Drake asked Corrine. He'd barely spoken to her in the time that she'd been at his house, and it felt strange to do so now. One day he would have a discussion with her about how she knew about the gas gun and everything else, but today was not that day.

She smiled and simply said, "Hope."

For some reason, the name startled Drake. Maybe he just hadn't been expecting something so…normal.

But deep down, he knew it was perfect.

"I like that," he said. Corrine smiled brightly.

Fenton leaned over and kissed his wife on her cheek, and Drake could see the pure unadulterated adoration in his friend's face.

Everything really was okay again.

* * *

><p>Bushroot was worried.<p>

Liquidator had never come back, and the botanist had the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach about what may have befallen his friend.

So he decided he would "man up" as they say, and go after him.

But first, he would have to find those blasted vigilantes…

**TO BE CONTINUED?**


End file.
